"India tours have always been tough ones," Qasim said in Lahore. "We are wary about India being a very strong host and we want to pick a combination very carefully. Expect no sweeping changes. We need to strengthen the combination with experience but there is always room for an outstanding young talent.

"Nobody, not even Afridi, gets an automatic place in the side at the moment. Afridi is a fine player and has performed well in past, but the upcoming [domestic] Twenty20 cup is the opportunity for him to perform and we will watch him. I am optimistic about him, as he has done a lot in past and still has a lot of cricket left in him."

Pakistan's selectors will pick the squad for what is their first bilateral series with India since they toured India in late 2007 after the conclusion of their domestic T20, which ends on December 10. Pakistan had dropped seniors Younis Khan and Umar Gul from the one-day squad for the three-match series against Australia in the UAE in August-September; the selectors plan to back experience could see them return. It appears Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami and Abdul Razzaq's places will also be debated by Qasim's panel.

Qasim also hinted that Mohammad Yousuf, the veteran batsman of 90 Tests who hasn't played any cricket in over a year due to personal reasons, could be in contention for Pakistan's tour of South Africa early next year. "We obviously need experienced batsmen for the difficult South Africa tour, and we intend to use Yousuf's services if he steps up and shows us he's in form." Pakistan play three Tests, followed by two T20s and five ODIs in South Africa in February and March.

Yousuf had said earlier this year that he is keen to make a comeback to the national team and was asked by the selectors to play domestic cricket first. He hadn't played any domestic tournaments since June 2011, but has been included in Lahore's team for the national T20, and had applied - though is yet to be cleared by the PCB - to play for Port Qasim Authority in the ongoing first-class President's Trophy.

If you don't pick Afridi then who is going to be in the team. Weird. He is the only one who can win 'Single Handily' matches. Just take the last 20 matches for Pakistan and tell me who won the most 'Man of the Match' awards. If he performs in every 10th match -- that's fine. Others 10 players should also do the same, he is not going to win every match for you. How many matches have Misbah, Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Kamran, Saeed Ajmal or any other won for Pakistan in the last couple of years?

Tmalik
on November 19, 2012, 14:03 GMT

good to hear 2 good things... AFridi not an automatic pick and PCB considering Mohammad Yousuf for SA test series... I strongly believe PCB selectors should consider Yousuf and Younis for India one day as well........ the equation these days is Afridi plays Pak loses but if he sits Paksitan Wins... lets get guys on merit... so much talent is being destroyed for selectors not being on merit...

TheRisingTeam
on November 19, 2012, 12:16 GMT

Afridi is an ordinary player and needs to give way to youngsters otherwise at this rate he'll continue till he's 50 :)

masoodali150
on November 19, 2012, 8:28 GMT

Give him some break to make his form better for South Africa Tour.

paps123
on November 19, 2012, 8:02 GMT

Absolutely right, PAK may have Afridi in the squad but bat him at No. 11 just as Chris Martin has done throughout his career, he is certainly no better than guys like McGrath, Walsh and so on, temperamentally may be even worse.

dmqi
on November 19, 2012, 5:44 GMT

I am very disappointed to see few people saying, Afridi should/must be in the team. For them my comment is " old glory can not stop the natural decay." Afridi is long past his best. Players like Afridi, Malik, Kamran are liabilities to the team and ruining the career of future prospects. PCB should come to senses and select new players. Just take a lesson from recent T20 WC.

Basamba
on November 18, 2012, 22:32 GMT

i know afridi is out of form but on his day he can take apart any bowling attack. We should keep him in the team maybe later we can see if he deseveres his place

Syed_imran_abbas
on November 18, 2012, 13:21 GMT

Well nobody should be taking his place for granted. there are plenty of black sheeps in squad. few to mention are Shoaib malik, Sohail tanvir and how on earth yasir arfat is better than even Razzaq??? how faisal iqbal gets in test squad ahead of umar kamal and young guys like Haris Sohail? Pakistans problem is fast bowling and team selection. Pakistans batting isnt that bad especially in test. Afridi should be allowed in domestic long version to play and get his form back.

Zahidsaltin
on November 18, 2012, 9:12 GMT

PAKISTANI CHIEF SELECTOR is a non performer exactly as his choices of non performing and useless Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanveer and Yaser Arfat. And now he speaks about Yousef to play against SA? Why not recall Inzimam and Zaheer Abbas too. Talented young players like USMAN SALLAHUDIN and HARIS SOHAIL should be given their due chance and new bowlers Zia-ul-Haq, Ihsan Adil and Mohammad Talha need to take over the old guard.

dontlikecricket
on November 18, 2012, 7:36 GMT

Unfortunately Afridi batting has deserted him. It seems all the bowlers aroud the world have figured him out. He should not be in team just because of the past performances. I know he is popular but he is not scoring. Only soultion is to play him as a specialist bowler and drop him low down the order. But in that case may be Pak needs to play young spinner to groom for the future!!
Drop Afridi along with Shoaib, Kamran, and others who seem to be in team because of the past performances!!!

Shams38
on November 19, 2012, 15:44 GMT

If you don't pick Afridi then who is going to be in the team. Weird. He is the only one who can win 'Single Handily' matches. Just take the last 20 matches for Pakistan and tell me who won the most 'Man of the Match' awards. If he performs in every 10th match -- that's fine. Others 10 players should also do the same, he is not going to win every match for you. How many matches have Misbah, Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Kamran, Saeed Ajmal or any other won for Pakistan in the last couple of years?

Tmalik
on November 19, 2012, 14:03 GMT

good to hear 2 good things... AFridi not an automatic pick and PCB considering Mohammad Yousuf for SA test series... I strongly believe PCB selectors should consider Yousuf and Younis for India one day as well........ the equation these days is Afridi plays Pak loses but if he sits Paksitan Wins... lets get guys on merit... so much talent is being destroyed for selectors not being on merit...

TheRisingTeam
on November 19, 2012, 12:16 GMT

Afridi is an ordinary player and needs to give way to youngsters otherwise at this rate he'll continue till he's 50 :)

masoodali150
on November 19, 2012, 8:28 GMT

Give him some break to make his form better for South Africa Tour.

paps123
on November 19, 2012, 8:02 GMT

Absolutely right, PAK may have Afridi in the squad but bat him at No. 11 just as Chris Martin has done throughout his career, he is certainly no better than guys like McGrath, Walsh and so on, temperamentally may be even worse.

dmqi
on November 19, 2012, 5:44 GMT

I am very disappointed to see few people saying, Afridi should/must be in the team. For them my comment is " old glory can not stop the natural decay." Afridi is long past his best. Players like Afridi, Malik, Kamran are liabilities to the team and ruining the career of future prospects. PCB should come to senses and select new players. Just take a lesson from recent T20 WC.

Basamba
on November 18, 2012, 22:32 GMT

i know afridi is out of form but on his day he can take apart any bowling attack. We should keep him in the team maybe later we can see if he deseveres his place

Syed_imran_abbas
on November 18, 2012, 13:21 GMT

Well nobody should be taking his place for granted. there are plenty of black sheeps in squad. few to mention are Shoaib malik, Sohail tanvir and how on earth yasir arfat is better than even Razzaq??? how faisal iqbal gets in test squad ahead of umar kamal and young guys like Haris Sohail? Pakistans problem is fast bowling and team selection. Pakistans batting isnt that bad especially in test. Afridi should be allowed in domestic long version to play and get his form back.

Zahidsaltin
on November 18, 2012, 9:12 GMT

PAKISTANI CHIEF SELECTOR is a non performer exactly as his choices of non performing and useless Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanveer and Yaser Arfat. And now he speaks about Yousef to play against SA? Why not recall Inzimam and Zaheer Abbas too. Talented young players like USMAN SALLAHUDIN and HARIS SOHAIL should be given their due chance and new bowlers Zia-ul-Haq, Ihsan Adil and Mohammad Talha need to take over the old guard.

dontlikecricket
on November 18, 2012, 7:36 GMT

Unfortunately Afridi batting has deserted him. It seems all the bowlers aroud the world have figured him out. He should not be in team just because of the past performances. I know he is popular but he is not scoring. Only soultion is to play him as a specialist bowler and drop him low down the order. But in that case may be Pak needs to play young spinner to groom for the future!!
Drop Afridi along with Shoaib, Kamran, and others who seem to be in team because of the past performances!!!

Nadeem1976
on November 18, 2012, 6:59 GMT

playing against india is like a pressure cooker situation and experienced players like afridi and razzaq should be selected because young players will never perform under pressure in huge crowds in India.
Playing against India is tough and Mr. Qasim must not make mistake by not selecting senior players because it's important series for us and Afridi is most important ODI player in our team no matter what his form is.

Mr Qasim should think about Misbah's position as ODI captain because guy is so slow for ODI cricket. Misbah should only be allowed to play test cricket.

Please Mr. Qasim make good decisions because India series is very very important for us. Be positive and have faith in experience.

smbhayi
on November 18, 2012, 6:20 GMT

a lot people jealous about afridi.... Bcos he's one of the most famous cricketer in the world... Just look what qasim says: ' Nobody, not `even Afridi´, gets an automatic place in the side at the moment'... That means afridi is an automatic choice... That shows importance of afridi... I'm sure he will picked against India unlike he fail or not in domestic league... As an Indian I love afridi too......

on November 18, 2012, 3:59 GMT

He is a sure pick and must be. Its against India and you can't let Afridi sit back.

on November 18, 2012, 2:46 GMT

no more chance please
Raza Hassan is very good replacement . we should go for some good young and 100% fit players
best wishes for Pakistan

on November 18, 2012, 2:26 GMT

Afridi is just like Chris Martin in terms of Batting he is a good bowler,

El_Toro_Loco
on November 17, 2012, 23:22 GMT

Well PCB then let him & others play in the domestic circuit OR BBL to improve & prove that they still got it OR else show them the door. Ciao....

on November 17, 2012, 21:47 GMT

Afridi is skilled but reminds me of Danial Vettori, at the end of his career and needs to focus on what he can do best as a now all rounder. It seems he has gone for the short versions of the game which is no surprise but he has to earn his spot. Having a senior player as a 'mentor' and in the squad is always a good idea but if its at the expense of giving youth and talent experience then he should be religated to the reserves / 12th man until he provides some consitantcy..

Sadly you dont just drop players like Afridi, they have to drop themselves and it is more complicated than you would like, but it seems the PCB is being ruthless as ever so you never know. ..

itsthewayuplay
on November 17, 2012, 20:53 GMT

Boom Boom is a mercurial player but when he gets going is as exciting as Chris Gayle. 'Nobody is an automatic choice' will hopefully be the incentive he needs to get back from a shocking run of form ans is also something the Indian selectors would well to apply themselves vis-a-vis Sehwag Gambhir Tendulkar and Harbajan.

SangakaraFan
on November 17, 2012, 20:51 GMT

Afridi is a BELOW AVERAGE player. This guy can't play more than 3 overs at the least. He is only fit to play T20 cricket.

uablgmw
on November 17, 2012, 20:37 GMT

we all know tht afridi isnt bastman he has to concentrate on bowling,,,,,

I am an indian i want to see Sami Aslam in PAK team he can be Saeed Anwar 2 my favourit !

warneneverchuck
on November 17, 2012, 18:07 GMT

Afridi has a stiff competition from Chris Martin in terms of batting

on November 17, 2012, 18:00 GMT

It Look Afridi @ His Last Period of Time of His Career? Very SAD!!
Hope He Will Perform Well!!

on November 17, 2012, 17:50 GMT

@ Mannan.81.pk completely agree brother. Give afridi a couple of more chances after that drop him. Drop imran farhat, imran nazir,razzaq,kamran,shoaib malik, sami for the rest of life. These guys are given a lot of chances. We dont need performance once in a blue moon.Drop cheema,arafat because these r not quality bowlers always struggle against good batsman. Misbah and younus should retire from ODI too. These guys always panic in pressure situation. Bring back Wahab, Ahmed shehzad, sarfraz ahmed, hammad azam in the ODI and t20 squad. Drop Abdur rehman from ODI squad for yasir shah. He is a quality spinner.
ODI sguad should be:
hafeez (captain, groom sarfraz for captaincy he has great captaincy skills he was the captain of under 19 team when pakistan won that tournament), ahmed shehzad, nasir, umer , asad , hammad ,sarfraz ,afridi/yasir shah he can bat a little bit as well/depending on the pitch might be seamer ,ajmal ,gul ,junaid khan/sadaf.

Coolgye
on November 17, 2012, 17:46 GMT

None of this is making sense. PCB first stopped the trio from playing the Big Bash League to make them play there domestic season to get form for the upcoming series of Pak-India in India. Now they are saying that AFRIDI isn't an automatic selection. There making a joke of this.

Remove players like Misbah, Younus, Malik and Kamran from the limited overs team and put them on the Test Team. Bring in youngsters like Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Azhar Mahmood, Ramiz Raja, etc. Make a seperate team for ODI, T20 and Tests.

Ahsan-cric-freak
on November 17, 2012, 17:34 GMT

This is a craziest fan of Afridi: lala it's as simple as i see.. hit and rock hard in upcoming t20 tournament and u will keep your slot in matches against india....!

Guys Qasim is right on his views, he is trying to maintain performance based selection criteria. As long as his selection is concerned, it is OKAY as compared to other former selectors lyk mohsin hassan khan, Abdul Qadir and all of them.. best Chief selector has been 'SALAHUDDIN SALLU' so far for Pakistan.
@stark62: kindly ponder over AZHAR's odi record then make any suggestions about pulling him out of odis!

Navaidzuberi
on November 17, 2012, 17:06 GMT

Agreed with Mannan.81.pk.
Now it over due to get rid of Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, M. Sami and Yasir Arafat. But the problem is that Kamran Akmal & Shoaib Malik have strong lobbies behind them, they kept on performing poorly but stick around the team. In no other International team, they could have survived this long.
Afridi is a crowd puller and a team man, he will be needed in difficult Indian conditions but needs to show that his form is back, at-least bowling. Younis should also be selected for Indian tour.

CaptainKool
on November 17, 2012, 16:44 GMT

Let him go. He has lost his charm.

Hira1
on November 17, 2012, 15:26 GMT

there is limited cricket for Pakistan and still PCB doesn't want its player to contest in league tournament and btw if Afridi place is not guaranteed then why he was stopped from playing BBL...any ways onus always comes on players and captains how about selectors like Qasim whose choices are mere disaster, he choose players like shoaib, nazir, yasir, sami, tanveer, kamran akmal who were good for nothing.........its time to start fresh and give youngsters like hammad azam, asad shafique the opportunities and it doesn't matter afridi s performing or not he is a match winner any day and an automatic selection

swat1999
on November 17, 2012, 15:21 GMT

Thats fine, Good and strong statement from Iqbal Kashim

on November 17, 2012, 15:11 GMT

Empty threat.. This team aint giong to india with Afridi..

Desihungama
on November 17, 2012, 14:40 GMT

None of this is making sense. You want Afridi to play T20 to regain form? Since when do you play a short form as T20 to regain any form? You want Yousaf to play T20 so he can be picked for a Test? And yet both of these players were stopped from playing and participating in the on going tournament? Fact of the matter is selectors have a bad pool of players available and there is no one in the country right now with the exception of Azhar Ali to play longer version of the game and that's a shame. I feel Younis and Yousaf must be back only for Test.

Mannan.81.pk
on November 17, 2012, 14:34 GMT

I think Iqbal Qasim is the worst chief selector we had in past few years.

It is true Afridi is going through a lean patch but what about the players whom he selected in previous tours?

Kamran Akmal????? I like his batting particularly in T20 format but in recent WC he even failed in batting. He CANNOT be a specialist keeper, for god sake when our selectors would realise this? not even for T20s. I remember Mr Iqbal Qasim warning Sarfaraz ahmed before Asia Cup that it was his last chance, he duly obliged, saved Pakistan from two mediocre total against Bangladesh, kept the wickets really well but still got dumped out???? Don't compare his batting with Akmal, compare the overall contribution, Akmal will conveniently drop a catch or miss a stump and allow the batsman to score big and his batting though exciting is not of that calibre to hide and insure his keeping horrors. Why Mr Iqbal did not give any warning to akmal??? Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik and Razzak are a burden on our team now

nilesh91
on November 17, 2012, 13:50 GMT

Great to hear about Mohammad Yousuf , He is my second favorite player from pak after Inzzi. :An Indain fan.

on November 17, 2012, 13:29 GMT

Afridi is an automatic selection for BBL, let him play there until the time PCB thinks he is an automatic selection for Pakistan.

Also, Pak have been really poor in ODI's ever since Misbah took over (barring a lucky Asia cup victory) and he himself is also to blame for his sluggish innings.

Make Umar bat @ no. 4 in ODI's and 3 in T20's.

on November 17, 2012, 13:22 GMT

huh.. this is ridiculous.. team without afridi is not a team.. i am Indian and i want afridi playing against us.

People talk about proper combination in the order. i have a question for them : Have u ever tried afridi in proper order in the team?? u guys always used him as a joker.. then how can he perform well?

better send him up the order and let razzaq n kamran finish the innings...

WAT U SAY MY INDIA AND PAKISTAN FRIENDS??

WE WANT TIGHT FINISHES , WHOEVER WINS NO MATTERS...!!!! :)

on November 17, 2012, 13:16 GMT

No No No. Yes its a political gimmick. Shahid Afridi will be a certain pick for this India tour. Why? Cos Afridi has the entire support of the Pakistan "AWAM". Yes certain players of the present Pakistan team will surely has a goose bump whether they will be chosen or not. But Afridi the crowd puller will be a sheer walk thru. So it was Mr.Iqbal Qasim the Chief Selector's gun point was for the other players.

K.A.K
on November 17, 2012, 12:51 GMT

Let him play in Austrailian league. He needs to earn his living within whatever cricketing life he has remaining.

Stark62
on November 17, 2012, 12:38 GMT

Then let him play FC cricket or the BBL!!

The current domestic T20 is worthless and not as competitive.

Legaleagle
on November 17, 2012, 12:35 GMT

Hi time's up! He should go when the things are still OK rather than lurching around.

No featured comments at the moment.

Legaleagle
on November 17, 2012, 12:35 GMT

Hi time's up! He should go when the things are still OK rather than lurching around.

Stark62
on November 17, 2012, 12:38 GMT

Then let him play FC cricket or the BBL!!

The current domestic T20 is worthless and not as competitive.

K.A.K
on November 17, 2012, 12:51 GMT

Let him play in Austrailian league. He needs to earn his living within whatever cricketing life he has remaining.

on November 17, 2012, 13:16 GMT

No No No. Yes its a political gimmick. Shahid Afridi will be a certain pick for this India tour. Why? Cos Afridi has the entire support of the Pakistan "AWAM". Yes certain players of the present Pakistan team will surely has a goose bump whether they will be chosen or not. But Afridi the crowd puller will be a sheer walk thru. So it was Mr.Iqbal Qasim the Chief Selector's gun point was for the other players.

on November 17, 2012, 13:22 GMT

huh.. this is ridiculous.. team without afridi is not a team.. i am Indian and i want afridi playing against us.

People talk about proper combination in the order. i have a question for them : Have u ever tried afridi in proper order in the team?? u guys always used him as a joker.. then how can he perform well?

better send him up the order and let razzaq n kamran finish the innings...

Also, Pak have been really poor in ODI's ever since Misbah took over (barring a lucky Asia cup victory) and he himself is also to blame for his sluggish innings.

Make Umar bat @ no. 4 in ODI's and 3 in T20's.

on November 17, 2012, 13:29 GMT

Afridi is an automatic selection for BBL, let him play there until the time PCB thinks he is an automatic selection for Pakistan.

nilesh91
on November 17, 2012, 13:50 GMT

Great to hear about Mohammad Yousuf , He is my second favorite player from pak after Inzzi. :An Indain fan.

Mannan.81.pk
on November 17, 2012, 14:34 GMT

I think Iqbal Qasim is the worst chief selector we had in past few years.

It is true Afridi is going through a lean patch but what about the players whom he selected in previous tours?

Kamran Akmal????? I like his batting particularly in T20 format but in recent WC he even failed in batting. He CANNOT be a specialist keeper, for god sake when our selectors would realise this? not even for T20s. I remember Mr Iqbal Qasim warning Sarfaraz ahmed before Asia Cup that it was his last chance, he duly obliged, saved Pakistan from two mediocre total against Bangladesh, kept the wickets really well but still got dumped out???? Don't compare his batting with Akmal, compare the overall contribution, Akmal will conveniently drop a catch or miss a stump and allow the batsman to score big and his batting though exciting is not of that calibre to hide and insure his keeping horrors. Why Mr Iqbal did not give any warning to akmal??? Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik and Razzak are a burden on our team now

Desihungama
on November 17, 2012, 14:40 GMT

None of this is making sense. You want Afridi to play T20 to regain form? Since when do you play a short form as T20 to regain any form? You want Yousaf to play T20 so he can be picked for a Test? And yet both of these players were stopped from playing and participating in the on going tournament? Fact of the matter is selectors have a bad pool of players available and there is no one in the country right now with the exception of Azhar Ali to play longer version of the game and that's a shame. I feel Younis and Yousaf must be back only for Test.